


Meet the Father

by sonofthanatos



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Family Fluff, M/M, Meeting the Parents, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-04
Updated: 2018-11-04
Packaged: 2019-08-18 19:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16523315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sonofthanatos/pseuds/sonofthanatos
Summary: Connor meets Mitchell's father.





	Meet the Father

Connor studied himself in the mirror, trying to get his curls under control. He had fought with monsters and forged weapons, he had stolen cars and broken into buildings, he had even gone to a major sale Barney’s on Madison Avenue with Mitchell once (he still considered that the most difficult and dangerous quest he had ever been on).

In his entire life, he had never had to go to a “meet the father” dinner before.

 

 

Mitchell’s father had asked his son to bring his boyfriend home for dinner, and Mitchell had sat down with Connor and gone over the details.

“My father has no idea about any of this. He thinks I’m at an educational camp studying design in the summer and I’m busy at school or he’s travelling for work the rest of the time, and he feels incredibly guilty about not seeing me often so I visit as often as I can. He doesn’t know who my mother is; he thinks it was a one-night stand and that she died in the hospital after having me. I think the truth might kill him.”

Connor was surprised at that; he knew that most humans couldn’t deal with the truth, but he had always thought that the Gods only had kids with those who could handle it.

“Did you tell him what I’m there for?”

“I panicked and told him that you were in the martial arts department, specifically studying swordplay and hand-to-hand combat. He might make you show him something later.”

Connor nodded. At least that was easy enough to fake.

Mitchell had gone through his closet with a fine-tooth comb before picking out a red collared shirt and clean black jeans and threatened to cut Connor off sexually for a decade if he even considered wearing them and risking staining them beforehand.

Now, dressed in his hand-picked outfit, his curls gelled to a somewhat manageable state, he made his way through the city towards Mitchell’s apartment and got buzzed in. He had been there before, of course, but he had always managed to avoid Mitchell’s father. It wasn’t that he had any objection to it; the man had helped create Mitchell, so Connor loved him already. He just knew how important this would be to Mitchell, and he wanted to impress his boyfriend's father.

It was time to accept his fate.

Standing at the door, he took a deep breath and knocked. A minute later, the door opened.

Connor’s breath caught in his throat. He was somehow never fully prepared to see Mitchell; he had every feature memorized, he could tell when a single hair had changed, but he was always stunned at how beautiful the son of Aphrodite was in person. As long as he lived, he would always be shocked that this gorgeous, ethereal boy actually agreed to date him.

Mitchell smiled at him. “Hi sweetheart. Wow, you clean up nice.”

Connor flushed. “Thanks, babe.”

Mitchell led him into the apartment, and pulled him into the living room, where a man was settling some things on a coffee table.

The man looked at Connor and smiled warmly, extending his hand.

“You must be Connor. I’m Adam.”

Connor shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure sir.” He handed over the pie he had hand-baked that morning; it had taken all of his willpower not to put anything funny in it, and he had agreed to help Travis with an unnamed favor in the future in exchange for a vow not to do anything to the pie.

As Adam talked, Connor studied him curiously. He had always assumed that Mitchell’s beauty had come from his mother, but he actually looked a lot like his dad. They had the same warm eyes and brown hair, and they held their heads the same way and had the same gentle smile. He noticed with some amusement that when he made a corny joke, they both had a similar laugh and shook their heads the same way; if he didn’t know better he would have assumed they were brothers.

It was as if Aphrodite had taken this good-looking, warm man, used him as a mold, and created a doll out of the finest porcelain and refined it to perfection. Connor wondered vaguely if her other partners were the same way.

He also noticed, with great pleasure, that despite his diminutive boyfriend’s insistence that he was still growing Mitchell was about the same size as his father, who was still several inches shorter than Connor.

A loud beep from the kitchen interrupted their talk, and Adam sent them to the dining room. Mitchell directed Connor to a seat at the table, and they dug in eagerly.

“So, Connor, Mitchell said you study martial arts at camp. Do you practice a specific style?”

Connor deliberately chewed for longer than necessary as he tried to figure out an answer.

“Not exactly. We do a mixture of common styles and self-defense techniques involving knives and bare hands, and I also practice using swords.”

“I wouldn’t have thought swords come up in self-defense.”

 _It does when you’re fighting monsters_. “They don’t, really. I find it fun though; it’s a good workout and makes you think in an entirely different way. It’s a fun hobby.”

Wow, he really could talk his way out of anything.

Adam nodded. “How did you end up in the camp to begin with?”

 _Well, it all started when I got attacked by something with horns and my big brother stole a car and crashed into it…_ “My mother sent me to some self-defense and martial arts classes when I was a kid to work off some energy. My teacher thought I had potential and gave my mom some brochures about it.”

Mitchell’s father looked pleased. “That’s great! I like that they’re always looking for more talented kids; it gives people like Mitchell a real hand against these kids who have rich parents who just buy their way into the best schools and programs.”

Connor smiled politely, not sure what to say to that. It was nice seeing how obviously proud Adam was of Mitchell; his eyes lit up and he seemed to automatically smile when he said his son’s name.

“So how did you and Mitchell get together? He’s always been shy about the details.” Adam grinned teasingly at his son, who blushed.

“Well, I’d liked him for a while at that point, so I finally got up the courage to talk to him. I was too nervous to actually ask him out, so I went with a half-truth; I told him I liked a guy but had no idea what to do, so I asked him for advice. Then I just did what he suggested.”

Mitchell giggled at the table. Adam glanced at him, raising an eyebrow questioningly. Still giggling, Mitchell shook his head, blushing again.

“He’s laughing because he gave me lots of good advice like talking about his interests or working on projects together, but at the end he made this ridiculous joke about kidnapping him. Guess what I went with?”

Missing Mitchell’s sudden look of panic, Adam shook with laughter. “What did you do?”

“I picked him up, carried him off, and told him I wouldn’t let him go until he agreed to date me.” Mitchell immediately looked relieved, giggling again. “I figured he would either kiss me or punch me, and either way I’d know. Luckily he found it funny.”

Adam nodded his head fondly. “He’s always had a good sense of humor.”

“I need one dating this guy.” Mitchell nudged Connor playfully with his foot under the table. “If I didn’t I’d have killed him a long time ago.”

As they finished, Connor helped clear the table and load the dishwasher, then they broke out Connor’s pie and some ice cream. Once they were finally full and the table was cleared, Adam sent both boys into the living room while he finished up. Mitchell sat on the couch next to Connor, who wrapped his arm around Mitchell’s shoulder and pulled him close.

“Your dad is great.”

“You’re great. Thank you, you’re doing so well; I don’t know how you’re pulling this off. Usually I just act embarrassed to avoid details.”

“The trick is to mix it with the truth. Two parts truth with one lie, and they’ll swallow the whole thing.”

Mitchell raised his eyebrow. “You don’t do that to me, do you?”

Connor smirked but didn’t answer as the mantle caught his eye. He rose and looked curiously at the pictures displayed: Mitchell through the ages, from a baby onto the teenage years. Mitchell started talking about them, explaining each one. Connor was fascinated by the idea of little Mitchell.

“Those are my some of favorite pictures.” Both boys turned to see Adam coming back in, smiling fondly.

“Which one is your absolute favorite?” Connor asked curiously.

“Mitchell won’t let me display it, but I brought it out to show you.”

“Dad, no!” Mitchell cried out, face flaming. “I hate that picture!”

“Awww, but you’re so cute in it!”

“What picture? Let me see it. Please!” Connor eagerly interjected. Mitchell moaned and sat down, burying his face in his hands.

Adam reached into a drawer and pulled out a frame. “When he was little he loved Star Wars and Disney princesses. For Halloween that year, he decided to combine them into one costume.” He held out the picture for Connor, who grabbed it eagerly. “Presenting: 5 year old Mitchell as Princess Darth Vader.”

Connor’s eyes widened as he stared at the photo, his face lighting up with pleasure and his body shaking as he tried to hold back his laughter. Mitchell had on a Vader helmet, but instead of the mask he had a  pink cloth in front of his mouth; he also wore a Vader breastplate, and instead of black pants he had on a bright pink tutu. He also wore a sparkling pink cape and carried a pink fairy wand with a lightsaber handle.

“Awww, you’re so cute! Look at little Princess Vader.” Adam snorted with laughter.

“I’m breaking up with you.” Mitchell’s voice was muffled.

Connor sat next to him and wrapped an arm around him. “There, there, sweetheart. I’ll never tell anybody.”

“I will!” Adam said happily. Mitchell moaned again.

The rest of the evening was just as fun. Adam showed off a few home movies, showing little Mitchell running around playing games, or putting on fashion shows; Connor drank them in deeply, loving the sight of his boyfriend as a kid. Even then he was adorable; Adam mentioned they had gotten modelling offers but he turned them all down because he didn’t want Mitchell stuck in that life. Connor was respecting him more with every moment; he could see why Aphrodite would be interested in him.

They finished off with a board game, and Connor was surprised at how seriously the other two took it; it was clear Mitchell’s competitiveness didn’t come entirely from his mother. Mitchell and his father stared intently at the board; as it turned out they were both so focused on each other neither noticed that Connor was winning until it was over.

As things finally winded down, Connor got ready to leave. Adam said his goodbyes, then tactfully left them alone to say goodnight to each other.

“Your dad is really great. Thanks for inviting me tonight.”

“No problem. Any mention of Princess Darth Vader to Travis or anybody else and you’ll never get laid as long as I’m alive.”

Connor kissed him. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. That’s just for me.”

Mitchell kissed him back.


End file.
